Smith A Land Remembered

After finishing the Book I found the novel to be very entertaining and easy to read. My favorite character in the novel was Zech. I connected a lot with his story and the way he thought throughout the novel. He was Tobias and Emma's son. His story begins as a young boy growing up in upstate Florida in a little cabin his father built in the shrubs. His family did not have much of anything to give him during his early years in life since they practically lived without an income and fed off animals his father could kill. As he grew up he helped his father herd cattle down to a port where it could then be sold. He and his father along with the help of other hired men practically built a fortune herding cattle. He later got married to Glenda and they had a son named Sol.

Since Zech grew up in the middle of the woods and was always surrounded by wildlife I think he had a strong connection to nature. Simply because there was really nothing else around him. He was a great horse rider and knew how to deal with nature as if nature was in his blood. He felt really awkward being around more civilized areas and always went back to his woods where he felt at home.

I think Zech experience a sense of place at the custard-apple forrest where he went to visit the Indians. I think to his this was a sacred place where nature was running a full coarse and he felt he was part of it. I think this is why knowing there was not much that could be done with that land he chose to buy it and ultimately wanted to preserve it. Throughout the novel when this place was mentioned by him it felt as if he was part of this place and it was where he felt at home.

I related to Zech in the way that like him I grew up fairly poor but was always happy with anything given to me by my parents. In the novel when Zech was a young boy he was really happy being out in the woods and riding horses and herding cows. To him nothing else matter and he was happy. When I was a young boy even though I did not live in the wilderness riding horses and chasing after cows I was happy playing sport with my friends in the streets and being out in parks and not worrying about expensive toys other kids had. After Zech's family started to gain more income he was still very appreciative of what he had and never took all the struggle for granted and that is how I am today.